Kochi Station Front Tourism will introduce two-tier full flat seats on its Kochi-Tokyo overnight express bus ‘Smile Liner’ and begin monitor operation from March 4.
The full flat seat “Sommeil Profond” was developed, designed by Thermal Koubou and manufactured by Kainai, both companies in Kochi Prefecture. The name means “deep sleep” in French.
The seat is 180 cm long, 48 cm wide, and has a two-level height of 51 cm on the lower part and 51–73 cm on the upper part when fully flat. It forms a unit of two seats, transitioning to a full flat state by unlocking from the usual seating state and flipping the front seat upwards, completing it with additional parts like sidebars and ladders.
Development took about nine years, adhering to the guidelines announced by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in November 2024, featuring components like fall prevention plates and materials to absorb shock, to prevent falls during collisions or swerves. The seat belt is a two-point type. Initially intended to be quickly adjustable, it was prioritized to enhance strength conforming to the guidelines.
While typical three-row standard seat vehicles usually accommodate up to 28 seats with toilets, “Sommeil Profond” can accommodate up to 24 seats. By adopting a two-tier system, the reduction in the number of seats is minimized, and usage is anticipated with a surcharge of several thousand yen on the regular bus fares of three-row seats. It can also be used as normal seating and allows mixed arrangements with standard three-row seats.
Akitoshi Umehara, President, indicated that considering the average one-way fare for three-row seat buses between Kochi and Tokyo is around 10,000 yen, the one-way fare after the start of full-scale operation is expected to be approximately 14,000 yen, expressing confidence in offering “simple, affordable and efficient transport like a capsule hotel.”
The monitor operation will occur about once a week with a special fare of 7,300 yen, limited to reservations via Hassha Orainet, starting February 7 noon. Phone or counter reservations will not be accepted. Operating dates in March are March 4, 11, 18, and 25 from Kochi and March 5, 12, 19, and 26 from Tokyo.
Feedback from passengers during the monitor operation period will be used to enhance quality, and full-scale operations are planned to begin around autumn with four round trips per week. The details of the routes are under consideration. After starting full-scale operations, provision to other companies is expected, and introducing it to an entire bus is estimated to be around 48 million yen. It will also be sold on a per-unit basis, with the capacity to manufacture about six vehicles in fiscal 2025, varying based on demand thereafter.
President Umehara expressed hope, “If we can overturn the perception that highway buses are cheap but tough and exhausting, it could lead to uncovering new users,” anticipating support from trends like the “oshi-katsu” craze and hotel cost increases.
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This article was generated using automatic translation by GPT-4 API. The translation may not be accurate.
